Great Indian Plateau

The Great Indian Plateau lies to the South of the Great Northern Plains. This is the largest physiographic division of our country. It covers an area of about 16 lakh square km, i.e., about half of the total area of the country. It is an old rocky plateau region.

The topography consists of a series of plateaus and hill ranges interspersed with river valleys. Aravalli hills mark the north-western boundary of the plateau region. Its northern and north-eastern boundary is marked by the northern edge of the Bundelkhand Plateau, Kaimur and Rajmahal Hills. The Western Ghats (Sahyadry) and the Eastern Ghats mark the western and eastern boundaries respectively of this Great Plateau.

Most of the area of the plateau has a height of more than 400 metres above sea level. The highest point of plateau region is the Anaimudi peak (2965 m). The general slope of this plateau is towards east.

The Great Plateau is the part of very ancient landmass, called Gondwana land. From the earliest time it has been above the level of the sea. Therefore, it has been subjected to large scale denudation. Its mountains are generally of relic type. They are composed of very hard rocks, which have withstood the ravages of denudation more effectively than the surrounding regions.

Because of their old age, all the rivers have almost attained their base level and have built up broad and shallow valleys. The dominant rock formations, especially those in the southern parts, are of metamorphic origin with frequent occurrences of granites.

River Narmada divides the peninsular block of India into two parts. The region lying to the north of the Narmada is called the Central Highlands and the region lying to the south of Narmada is called the penninsular plateau, more commonly referred to as the Deccan Plateau.

Barring Narmada and Tapti, all the major rivers lying to the south of the Vindhyas flow eastwards to fall into the Bay of Bengal. The westward flow of Narmada and Tapi is assigned to the fact that they have been flowing through faults or rifts which were probably caused when the Himalayas began to emerge from the Tethys Sea of the olden times.

Summary

• The shape of the Great Plateau is triangular.
• It can be divided into two major parts. The Central Higlands and the Peninsular Plateau.
• Aravallis, Vindhyas, Sahyadris, Poorvadris, Annamalai, Cardamom, Palani Mahadeo, Maikal and Satpuras are the major hills of the Great Plateau.
• Chambal, Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are the major rivers of the Great Plateau.